A 94-year-old Scarborough woman was scammed out of $600 on Tuesday by a man who posed as a window company worker.
The man told the victim his name was George from Modern Roofing and offered her a discounted security shutter upgrade.
Scarborough Police officer in charge Glenn Dowding said ‘George’ went to the woman’s Scarborough home to ‘assess’ the security windows.
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“He told her he would be back with paperwork and to complete the job but of course he never returned.”
Senior Sergeant Dowding said police sent forensic officers to the house and the investigation was ongoing.
“Always ensure you ask for ID if someone claims to be representing a company,” he said.
“People should remain vigilant, check the WA Police Scamwatch online and deal with the company directly.”
Modern Group WA branch general manager Mark Howard said the company would never send a representative to a person’s home without first giving a full name.
“We think it’s outrageous these unscrupulous individuals would take advantage of an elderly lady like this,” he said.
“We have a policy that anyone dealing with our company will always be given the full name of the person attending prior to our visit so they know who they will be dealing with and we encourage the people check their ID before giving access to the property.
“We’d stress to all consumers that they only ever deal directly with the company as opposed to an unsolicited approach on their doorstep.”